One of the nice things about working in Public Programs at a contemporary art center is that trolling the web for interesting artist projects is considered “work,” or “program research.” A find for today is Futurefarmers, a design and new media outfit in SanFrancsico that conducts projects linking interdisciplinary artists with science and enviornmental actions. The many projects of note include the Gardening Superfund Site, an art project that fosters discourse around the issues of nature preservation, industry, and activism. “By providing information and facilitating activities with students and community groups we are making a call to action to high tech industries to take responsibility for their actions.” The goal of this project is to plant native seeds at Superfund Sites in the Silicon Valley (dispersed via “seed sculptures” ) that will attract butterflies to the area, and garden the site with native plant life.
Also check out the Botanical Gameboy. Imagine all video games running on the alternative energy of fruit!
great post, sarah. add the potato-powered webserver to the list of organically-fueled devices:
http://d116.com/spud/
Comment by paul — 7/29/2005 @ 1:45 pm
Spuds Unite! That webserver is like the 21st century version of Polke’s 1969 sculpture Apparat, mit dem eine Kartoffel eine andere umkreisen kann (Apparatus Whereby One Potato Can Orbit Another). (!) Search for it at http://www.artsconnected.org.
Comment by Sarah Peters — 8/2/2005 @ 1:07 pm